Responsible consumers still suffer from an overly negative image
At a time when the President of the Republic himself is mentioning the concept of moderation for the first time, let's take a moment to consider the significance of promoting this term, which is not particularly appealing to consumers.
Gilles Séré de Lanauze, University of Montpellier and Jeanne Lallement, La Rochelle University
AdobeStock_322322645 © nito – stock.adobe.com
The issue is well known to responsible consumers, who are surprised to find that they are so numerous in words but so few in deeds. It is also well known to researchers who are desperately trying to understand this gap between attitudes and behaviors when it comes to responsible consumption.
Now that this rather unappealing word, "sobriety," has been coined, promoted, and put forward at the highest levels of government, will we finally see the image of the responsible consumer evolve? Indeed, while the concept of responsibility is generally presented as positive, what about that of the responsible consumer? How is this image conveyed by the press and advertising? Deep down, do we, as consumers, want to be responsible consumers?
Could we not hypothesize that the very image of the responsible consumer, an image that may not be so positive after all, partly explains the gap between attitudes and behaviors—the famous "do as I say, not as I do"—when it comes to responsible consumption?
A responsible consumer is not very "sexy"
The results of a study we conducted among consumers on their image of a responsible consumer identified several negative archetypes of the responsible consumer.
Based on an in-depth analysis of the respondents' comments, four unflattering metaphors shed light on the latent images associated with responsible consumers. They are described as fundamentalists, hermits, killjoys, or snobs.
- The fundamentalist (or ayatollah) expresses the perceptions of a responsible consumer in constant conflict with the rest of society and readily prone to excess and intransigence.
- The hermit is a second image often evoked, that of a responsible consumer who has broken with society, isolated and marginalized, often living in deprivation and returning to the past, to the steam engine.
- A killjoy is someone who is sad, overly serious, always focused on duty rather than pleasure, and prone to moralizing.
- Finally, on the other hand, responsible consumers can also be seen as snobs, perceived as "bobos"—arrogant, superior, influenced by the media and fashion trends, and with the financial means to do so.
Analysis of these different negative archetypes of the responsible consumer reveals just as many obstacles to the adoption of responsible consumption behaviors. Respectively, we identify an obstacle to integration linked to the fear of conflict induced by a stance perceived as too fundamentalist, "extremist"; a barrier of desirability with this other form of marginality associated with the hermit and the rejection of modernity; a barrier of hedonism, if we follow the killjoy, incapable of any spontaneous pleasure and rationalizing every consumption decision. Finally, the responsible "bobo" consumer is associated with a barrier of identification and the rejection of an elitist and condescending stance.
All too often, we see these archetypes, relayed and conveyed by advertising, of a responsible consumer who is not very "sexy."
Several types of negative perceptions
In a subsequent stage, another study we published sought to verify the extent to which these archetypes could effectively explain responsible consumption intentions and behaviors. The study, conducted on a sample of 363 individuals, analyzed respondents' reactions to a message inviting them to follow a recommendation made by a responsible consumer.
Initially, statistical analyses clearly identified three types of negative perceptions, depending on whether they related to one's relationship with oneself (risk of loss of desirability according to commonly accepted criteria of beauty or youth), one's relationship with others (risk of loss of socialization in relation to how others perceive one), or one's relationship with modernity (risk of falling out of step with the present day and modernity).
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The study then showed that while perceptions of responsible consumers remained positive (overall, respondents did not openly criticize responsible consumers who urged them to behave responsibly), the associated negative perceptions influenced intentions to behave responsibly.
Furthermore, the study shows that the perception of oneself as a responsible consumer moderates the observed effect. For consumers who declare themselves to be less responsible than others on average, any flaw associated with responsible consumers, whether it be a lack of sociability, desirability, or modernity, is likely to penalize behavioral intentions. Whereas for consumers who consider themselves more responsible on average than the rest of the sample, only the lack of modernity can still negatively influence their intentions. They are probably the first to suffer from the lack of modernity associated with the image of the responsible consumer...
Liability injunctions
Current events are having a greater impact on our behavior today. The health crisis, followed by recent manifestations of the climate crisis, and finally the crisis in purchasing power, against a backdrop of energy crisis and inflation, are all contributing to increasing calls for more responsible consumption.
While there is a chance that these crises will lead to a gradual reduction in the gap between attitudes and behaviors in terms of responsible consumption, it will also be interesting to see what impact this will have on the perceived image of the responsible consumer.
To what extent will it become glamorous, sociable, and modern in the immediate future? Above all, to what extent will we need such positive figures to accompany us through the transitions to come?
Gilles Séré de Lanauze, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, University of Montpellier and Jeanne Lallement, University Professor (Marketing), La Rochelle University
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